Snubbed bolster truck



March 21, 1950 A. H. OELKERS SNUBBED BOLSTER TRUCK Filed April 12, 1947 FIG.

FIG.3

FIG. 2

INVENTOR Y ALFRED H. OELKERS A TORNE Y Patented Mar. 21, 1950 SNUBBED BOLSTER TRUCK Alfred H. Oelkers, New Braunfels, Tex., asslgnor to American Steel Foundries, Chicago, 111., a corporation of New Jersey Application April 12, 1947, Serial No; 741,063-

1 Claim. (01. 105-197) My invention relates to railway car trucks and more particularly to a truck incorporating a snubbing device by means of which frictional control is afforded of the oscillations of the bolster-supporting spring group.

An object of the invention is to design a-truck incorporating a snubbing device which operates to develop a substantially constant degree of friction during movements of the bolster for prevent: ing synchronous oscillations of the bolster-supporting spring group.

Expressed generally, the principal object of my invention is to devise such snubbing arrangementbetween the bolster and the side frame wherein a plurality of friction shoes may be mounted and so arranged in the side frame as to be easily retracted and thus completely disengaged from the bolster without the use of any special tools to facilitate the assembly or disassembly of the bolster with respect to the side frame.

Another object is to devise such a friction device which comprises a minimum of parts, is of rugged construction and will serve efliciently for the purpose intended.

A still further object of the invention is to devise a friction shoe of simple design, which may be cheaply manufactured either by forging or casting.

These and other objects of the invention will be apparent from the specification and the drawings wherein:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary side elevation of a car truck embodying my invention.

Figure 2 is a sectional view of the structure shown in Figure 1, the section being taken in a longitudinal vertical plane substantially bisecting the side frame.

Figure 3 is a side elevation of the shoe used in my friction device, and Figure 4 is a rear end elevation of the same.

Describing the invention in detail and referring to the drawings, the invention is illustrated as embodied in a railway car truck comprising a side frame 2 having a compression member 4, a tension member 6, and an integral upright column 8 adjacent each end of the frame extending between and'merging at opposite ends with said tension and compression members and defining therewith a bolster'opening Ill centrally of the side frame and a window opening I 2 adjacent each end of the frame. The bolster opening I6 is widened at its lower end as at iii to permit insertion or removal of the bolster in the usual manner.

The tension member below said bolster opening Ill afiords a spring seat as at I 4 and is formed with upstanding inboard and outboard flanges l6 and I8 confining a plurality of coil springs 20, 20 seated at their lower ends as at 22 on said seat l4 and at their upper ends as at 24 against the bottom wall 26 of the box-section bolster 28 and affording a support therefor.

The springs are positioned on the wall 26 as by means of depending lugs 30. The bolster 28, in

addition to the bottom wall 26, comprises a top wall 32, a center rib 34 interconnecting the top and bottom walls, and side walls 36 at opposite sides thereof, said side walls also interconnecting said top and bottom walls.

At opposite sides of the bolster are provided spaced laterally projecting inboard and outboard interlocking gibs 38 and 40 embracing the adjacent column therebetween, thus locking the bolster with the side frame.

Each column 8 comprises spaced vertical inboard and outboard walls 42 and 44 between which extend vertically spaced, substantially parallel, diagonally arranged upper and lower webs 46 and 48 interconnecting said inboard and outboard walls and defining therewith a diagonal opening or pocket 50.

Within the opening 56 is positioned a closefitting wedge-shaped friction shoe 52 complemental in form to that of said opening, the shoe being a solid body of metal, substantially rectangular in' end elevation and having top and bottom faces 54 and 56 and side faces 58 and 60 in slidable engagement with the adjacent sides of the top and bottom webs 46 and 48 and the inboard and outboard walls 42 and 44 respectively, the shoe thus assuming a diagonal position.

One end of the shoe is formed with a, vertical friction face 62, in frictional engagement as at 64 with a steel friction plate 66 secured to the adjacent side wall of the bolster, the plate 66 extending between the adjacent inboard and outboard gibs 38 and 4D. The plate 66 may, of course, be integral with the bolster and be con-' sidered a part of the same. The other end of the shoe projects outwardly of the opening 50 into the adjacent window opening l2 and seats as at 68 against the upper end of a coil spring 10, the spring 10 being held in position on said lastmentioned end of the shoe by means of a boss 12 projecting into said upper end ofsaid spring. The lower end of the coil spring extends between inboard and outboard webs 14 and 16 of the tension member and seats as at 18 on a stepped-up portion of a transverse bottom web 82 extending between and connecting said inboard and outboard web I4 and It, the lower end of the spring being held in position on the portion ll by means of a stud 84. The spring II, it will be noted, is in longitudinal alignment with the shoe, and the portion 80 is at substantially right angles to the longitudinal axis of the shoe.

The shoe is provided at its last-mentioned end, on the side having the face 54, with a laterally extending bifurcated lug Oi defining a U-shaped slot 83 (Figure 3) through which extends a bolt 90' parallel to said spring 10, the head 92 of the bolt being seated as at 94 against the inner or upper side of the lug and the other end of the bolt projecting through an opening 98 formed in the portion I0, said last-mentioned end of the bolt being provided with a nut 90 threaded thereon and engaging as at I" the underside of the portion 80.

The bolt requires only light wrenching to compress the spring and is applied and used only to retract the shoes when assembling or disassembling the bolster with respect to the side frame. It will be noted the bolt is readily removable upon the completion of the assembly of the bolster with the side' frame, whereupon after removing the bolt, the spring 10 is free to urge the shoe diagonally upwardly against the bolster.

It will be noted that the spring 10 exerts a force against the shoe parallel to the web 46 urging the shoe directly against the surface 64, the spring being preferably of suflicient capacity to cause the reacting forces between the shoe and the surface 64 to seat the shoe against the web 46 and to normally maintain the shoe against said surface 64 and web 46 during all vertical movements of the bolster. It will be observed, however, that in the event that the friction between the shoe and the surface 64 overcomes the force under which the shoe is held against the web 48, the web 48 will prevent downward movement of the shoe and bending of said spring I0.

It is to be understood that I do not wish to be limited by the exact embodiment of the device shown which is merely by way of illustration and not limitation as various and other forms of the device will, of course, be apparent to those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit of the invention or the scope of the claim.

I claim:

A railway car truck comprising a truss frame including tension and compression members and a column adjacent each end of the frame defining a bolster opening with said members centrally of the frame and windows adjacent the ends of the frame, spring seat means on said tension member at the bottom of said opening. springs on said seat means, a bolster supported on said springs, a substantially vertical friction surface at each side of the bolster, fixed with respect thereto and facing the adjacent column, integral inboard and outboard guide elements at each side of the bolster cooperating with opposite sides of the adjacent column to afford a slidable interlock therewith accommodating vertical movement of the bolster in said opening, said tension member having a portion beyond each column extending longitudinally of the frame diagonally upwardly toward the adjacent end of the frame, 4

each portion having inboard and outboard webs and a transverse wall with a vertically offset segment defining a spring seat facing the adjacent friction surface on the bolster, each seat lying in a plane converging downwardly with the plane of the adjacent friction surface, the plane of each seat converging with the plane of the transverse wall of the associated portion longitudinally of the frame toward the adjacent end thereof, each column comprising spaced substantially vertical inboard and outboard walls merging with the inboard and outboard webs of the adjacent portion, each column comprising vertically spaced top and bottom substantially parallel webs extending substantially normal to the adjacent seat and presenting on their adjacent sides wedge surfaces sloping upwardly toward the bolster opening, the top and bottom webs of each column extending between the inboard and outboard walls thereof and merging therewith and defining a friction shoe pocket open at one end thereof into the bolster opening and at the other end thereof into the adjacent window, a shoe in each pocket comprising top and bottom substantially parallel sides engaging the wedge surfaces on the related top and bottom webs respectively, each shoe having substantially vertical sides engaging the respective sides of the associated pocket and having a substantially vertical friction surface at one end engaging the adjacent friction surface on the bolster, a spring seat face on the other end of each shoe arranged substantially parallel to the adjacent spring seat, a helical spring compressed between each seat and the adjacent shoe face and arranged with its axis in longitudinal alignment with the associated shoe for urging said shoe toward the bolster and engaging the friction surface thereon with the acUacent friction surface on the bolster, means for retracting each shoe from said bolster to accommodate disassembly and assembly of the bolster with respect to said frame and comprising a lug on the top side of each shoe spaced from the adjacent column and extending substantially parallel to the adjacent segment into the adjacent window opening, and a bolt in each window extending between the adjacent segment and lug and removably connected thereto, each bolt having abutment means seated against remote sides of the related segment and shoe lug.

ALFRED H. OELKERS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Re. 22,867 Dath Apr. 15, 1947 716,294 Shallenberger Dec. 16, 1902 1,452,529 Scheibli Apr. 24, 1923 1,834,944 Gillespey Dec. 8, 1931 2,176,909 Lazna Oct. 24, 1939 2,352,693 Davidson July 4, 1944 2,425,822 Olander Aug. 19, 1947 2,434,583 Pierce Jan. 13, 1948 

